Preservation
by Saiyura
Summary: She was frozen, but she was still alive and she still tried to save the others even though she couldn't speak and barely could write. There is another problem, someone is killing Navy, Marines, and innocent people and they all tie to their victim. Mystery
1. Petty Officer

This is a story I spent all day working on. I wish to thank the man who saved a father and his daughter after jumping into the water 20 feet below in 40 degree's water. I also wish to say 'Human's can do so much good, not only bad.'

Thanks! 10K story!

I don't own NCIS, I wish I did, but that is okay.

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"_Human beings have one of the most unusual habits call self preservation. Typically that means one human will save themselves and leave the rest to die. It is not the case for every human being. Mother's protect their children no matter what the cost. Father's protect their family with only the truth of their love. Yet it is the random strangers who come and do the one thing that makes a hero in our eyes. Protecting or saving another human's fragile existence. _

_For a few people that could almost anything. You can ponder it, believe what you say when you tell yourself what you would do if that situation arrives, but you won't know the true answer until it actually come and you must make a choice. _

_To those of you who are hearing this and say, 'I'd do the right thing, I'd save the other person' are you sure? A few of you will believe that you would save them, a complete stranger without a second thought, but you have to think about this also 'Do you really want to leave the life you have?'"_

DiNozzo Junior, though everyone always called him Tony, looked at his boss, Agent Gibbs, as they drove from the murder scene of a Petty Officer found at a broken down complex. Neither had spoken nor the two Agents in the back avoiding his constant glances to the back to check on them.

"Boss," Tony began only to be cut off by a knot forming in his gut telling him now was not the time to begin talking, he swiftly threw that down. Now was the time to talk. Now was the time to confront his superior. "What was that back there?"

Agent Gibbs said nothing as he swerved to miss a car. It didn't take Tony much amylase to realize his boss was ignoring him-again. He shifted his gaze to try and catch the youngest agent on their team, Timithy MeGee, and all he saw was the man's eyes dart to look out the window again. His team wasn't going to stick their heads out to be bitten off by a wild and furious Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Boss, we seriously-" Gibbs swerved causing Tony to shift and his head hit the window causing a loud 'thunk' to resonate in the small speeding car on the road as they turned to head back to the Naval Yard. "GIBBS!" Tony shouted for the first time causing everyone, Gibbs glanced, to be surprised by his outburst. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Driving." Tony had nothing to say as he looked at his boss and he paused long enough for the tension between them to grow.

"That is no answer, boss, that's being a coward and hiding behind some lame ass excuse, you know it." Gibbs didn't respond again, but the lines around his eyes and mouth tightened with fury. Tony realized quickly what his boss was playing at and he didn't like it, not one bit. Gibbs was pulling his own rules to fit whatever was happening to him; The fourth rule in Agent Gibbs' book was '_The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person – if you must. There is no third best.'_

With a defeated sigh Tony went silent as they finished their drive back to the NCIS building where they would file the report, send the evidence down to Abby, the body to the Morgue, and all of them would most likely pull an all-nighter to find a clue to what happened to their Petty Officer. Only, Tony had a gut feeling he wasn't going to like what they would first find; no one would believe what they would find.

They barely had arrived in the parking lot and stepped out when Gibbs turned to look at DiNozzo and watched the Agent gently rub the area he hit his head, by the slightly stinging look in the minute flinches Gibbs felt slight remorse for what he did.

"Go to Ducky, DiNozzo." He said before he turned and walked to the doors and headed straight to the elevator. Ziva looked Tony with a gaze of some sort of hurt-predator that was strong enough to make his spine tingle.

"I do not think that was the smartest of plans, Tony. If Gibbs wishes not to talk, then, as you're people say it, 'Don't mess with fire if you do not with for it to grow'." Ziva looked at him before MeGee opened his mouth only to stop short of words and he rushed after their boss, he could still feel the tension; the tension that once lay with Tony and Gibbs grow between Tony and Ziva.

"'Don't play with fire if you don't wish to be burned', Ziva." Ziva nodded, she could see the connection to what he was saying, and he turned also.

"You should hurry; Gibbs will be expecting you to work." Tony nodded his head and he headed in with her to go talk to the Doctor of the house.

"Ziva," Tony said as they neared the building and front doors. "Something's up and I have a gut feeling we're not going to like it."

"I feel it too, Tony." Ziva said with a side glance. "Gibbs seems to think it is nothing, but… something made his cold, it does not bond well." Tony nodded with her, the feeling was mutual, that must also mean McProbie also felt it.

Tony paused as he stared into the morgue and spotted the body of their late Petty Officer. It was a 22-year-old woman with soft chest nut brown hair and her eyes where an alarming color of hazel that stood out and open to bore into the ceiling. Tony did not find that comforting as he grabbed a glove and slipped it on to close her eyes, he really didn't want to be staring at them. As he reached over to place his hands over her eyes, it might be a hassle to push them closed to do how stiff the body was being frozen and all of that.

"Petty Officer Julian Bryan, been missing since last month of the day of your ships department; long time to be missing, Julian." He placed his hands over her eyes and he nearly jumped as he felt the lashes move under his palm not of his accord. "What the hell!" he quickly removed his hand and he stared at the open eyes looking into space, glazed over with death-as Ducky had said but from a picture he had looked at Ducky had been surprised to see that even in life her eyes held their present stiff corpse look.

"Man these eyes are freaky. " He placed his hands again over her eyes and again he felt them flicker a small, but very real, blink. "Either I have a severe concussion or you're a zombie."

"Who's a zombie, young Anthony?" Doctor Mallard asked as he entered the room fully attired in his scrubs to begin dissecting Julian.

"Why the blinking Petty Officer, Ducky." The pausing and raising of Ducky's brow was enough for Tony to know that Doctor Mallard didn't believe him. "I'm serious!" Ducky shock his head as he motioned for the man to sit and lay down for a short time being.

"Anthony, you've been working hard, you really must take better care of yourself, and our Petty Officer has been frozen. She is dead; I checked her liver temperature myself." Tony frowned and he looked at Julian's body, her eyes still wide opened but… they no longer looked at the ceiling, they stared at him.

"Ducky?" his voice dropped his tone shallow and he felt frightened by the hollowed look that resonated at him.

"My dear boy, you really-" Ducky paused as he heard the tone and he rushed to the man's side. His eyes went wide as he stared at the eyes that looked at Tony, their gaze not moving, the lids not even twitching as she didn't break contact. "Tony! Have you no sense of respect for the dead?!" Ducky could have shouted as he reached out and closed her eyes.

"I swear, Ducky, I didn't do that."

"Tony, are you sure you are feeling all right, I can always tell Jethro to make sure you take a quick nap before you head back to work." Tony didn't look at him but he looked at the body as the lids opened again and the eyes no longer were on him but on Ducky.

"You know, I think that hit to the head in the car might have actually given me a concussion, Ducky, cause I'm sure dead bodies don't stare at people." Ducky sighed as he motioned with his hand and he looked at the dead girl as he began to say, "No, Anthony, they don't" but all he said as he looked at the eyes now trained on his own face was, "Oh my."

Tony walked up to his cubical, opened the file cabinet to his clothes-the spares he kept in case they spent all night on a case- and he turned and walked over to his bosses table with the lump in his throat tighter then it had been when he slowly made his way out of the Autopsy room.

"Boss." He began weakly, a sure indicator that something was wrong. "Our Petty Officer is alive." MeGee, Ziva, and Gibbs looked at him as his skin paled more and he walked back to the elevator and pushed the down button.

"Tony!" Gibbs shouted as he and the teams rushed over to look at him. "What happened?"

Tony didn't respond as the door dinged, with a quick rush forward he leaned again the back, his team came in with him. All concerned looked on his clammy and un-DiNozzo attitude. No one spoke as they felt the elevator head down to visit Ducky and their supposed 'dead' Petty Officer. As the door swooshed open and Tony stepped out and head to the door, he paused to look at the body and Ducky, a shiver running his spine and his team caught it.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked again. "What is going on?" Tony barely shrugged and he headed inside the room.

Ducky turned around and he was mildly surprised to see the rest of the team come in. The team, who looked behind Ducky, was surprised to see Abby looked down and looking sick to her stomach at the body.

"Gibbs," she said weakly. "How could anyone do this to her?"

"Ducky?" Gibbs said pushing past DiNozzo as he set the clothes on of the tables. "Tony couldn't speak; what is going on?"

"Jethro," Ducky said looked at the body covered in a thermal blanket. "Petty Officer Julian Bryan was alive!"

"That's impossible, her body was to cold and she was frozen stiff when we found her." Gibbs looked at the eyes staring up at the ceiling. "No one can live if that happens."

"That isn't always the case, Jethro, some human minds shut down the body slowly to self preserve itself, and her body did just that! Yet I have never seen the heart return to life and the brain to still work to this magnitude!" Gibbs looked at Ducky as he turned to Julian's side again. "Jethro, she's alive, but whatever damage that happened while her body was shut down is unknown at this time."

"Boss," Gibbs didn't turn around to look at Tony but he watched Julian's eyes flicker to Tony's face and then they froze to the Agent as if something was trying to spark behind her eyes. He felt everything slowly lose focus as he stared at Julian's eyes on Tony with at blank hollow look that slowly grew into something else. Dark. Angry.

Then a shrill snarl ripped from her still closed mouth that resonated in her chest causing everyone to pause and stare at her. Something had caused her to become aggressive and it had something to do with Tony's appearance.

"DiNozzo have you ever seen Petty Officer Julian before?" Tony shook his head but seconds later responded out loud.

"No, Boss, this is my first time."

Julian again growled but it dimmed down to a whine before she went silent and her eyes drifted from Tony's to Gibb's. He watched as she continued to stare, the hollowed eyes returned, at his face. She was trying to figure out who they were and at that moment Gibbs understood why she had responded that way to DiNozzo.

"What did you do when you came down here and found out she was alive." Gibbs questioned sternly.

"I thought she was dead, her eyes were opened… I tried to close them." Gibbs nodded, not breaking his contact with Julian, as he took a deep calming breath.

"DiNozzo, you frightened her. She assumed you were one of her assailants trying to blind fold her, she was responding to that by trying to appear frightening in her current condition." Tony let out a slight 'ah' sound before he back away behind MeGee and Ziva.

"You're right, Jethro, she would assume we were all out to get her, crowding the room like this." Ducky spoke and he turned, stepping into the staring contest between frozen victim and NCIS Agent Gibbs, causing another growl of protest to rip through Julian's chest making Ducky step to the side again. "Oh dear, she seems to hate us all."

"Not hate, resent." Abby said for the first time proudly raising her chin. "You all crowding around her like bad guys and staring at her! No wonder she thinks we're the ones who did this to her!"

Gibbs nodded slightly, Julian's eyes changed slightly, relaxing, but something in them caused Gibbs to think something was up. Her eyes saying something but her mouth unable to speak it out loud; this was her desperate attempt, her only form of communication. He stepped forward and crouched to get a better look into her eyes as the room fell silent.

"Have we found anything?" he said to Ducky, hoping something could help them.

"Nothing, Jethro, I found no evidence of rape, assault, or anything on her. No mark that she was abused, no mark that anything other than her attacker freezing her. Gibbs didn't like that sound, it meant that if she had died they would get off scot free.

"Well find me something to catch those bastards!" Gibbs yelled as he stood up and rounded on his team. "They are not getting away with what they did to her, you hear me?!"

"Yes, boss." All of them said rushing from the room.

While the team was working on gathering information and checking all hits they received Julian was carted out of the morgue and to the hospital for further treatment and care. The ambulance, unsure on how act with their practically frozen patient-as Ducky had put it- made the team worry that by some horrible twist of fate that the victim would die from unsure hands. With suck worry Director Vance gave Ducky permission to travel, and assist, the medics if any problems arise.

Tony paused in his works, remembering how feral Julian had been to him, and he rubbed his eyes to destroy any thought of sleep. Though the yawn that came from his mouth made him nearly wish they had some evidence to lead them to help.

"DiNozzo," Tony looked at Gibbs. "You tired?" Tony sheepishly nodded as another dislocating-yawn erupted from DiNozzo's lips.

"Yeah, Boss." Gibbs looked as if he was about to laugh before he took a sip from his cup of coffee and he sat it down with a disgruntled slam.

"Get me some coffee while you stretch your legs then." Tony nodded with a mild laugh and roll of his eyes; setting out to do the task he was issued. Gibbs needed coffee, that is code for 'Get him coffee or all hell is breaking loose'.

The trip to the coffee pot was not as long as Tony would have liked it to be, but he was more awake then he was before and the smell of the strong black, and disgusting, coffee made him wonder something that he felt nagging in the back of his mind. 'Why had she responded now? How long had she been unthawed? Why put her where she had been?' Slowly as he turned and headed back, a cup of strong untainted pure evil coffee in his right hand, with more growing thoughts that added to the confusion he was feeling each passing second.

"Why unthaw her now?" his mind was unfocused as something brushed his shoulder spilling some coffee onto his hand making him yelp and pull back, his eyes shot up and he turned to look at the apologizing Agent before he spotted something behind him on the wall with 'X's' marking off each day that went by.

It was summer, it had been exceedingly hot for the last few days with no wind to stifle the heat and only three days ago there had been a major power outage that lasted more than half a day that made many restaurants close due to spoiled meat and other food products.

"You're kidding!" Tony cheered as he rushed off back to his cubical and he slid to the front of Gibbs' desk, the man raising his brow with mild humor as the child like glee on his Agents face, before the coffee cup was set gently down onto the wooden table. "Boss, April 1st of this week there was a power outage for half a day, most food places complained because their meet went bad, their freezers turned off, boss, that's why they dumped her off. She was already 'dead' when they did it so they didn't have to worry about her telling anyone." He took a deep breath, trying to regain his spluttering words being cut off as he spoke. "Boss-"

"I hear you, DiNozzo." Gibbs said with a grin. "Good work, now go tell Abby!" Tony nodded and left to the elevator bouncing on his heels.

"Wonder how he figured that out." MeGee said standing slightly to see where Tony came back from. "How'd he get that?"

Though as Gibbs reached his coffee he noticed that it was only half full and he slowly felt his veins extend, "DiNozzo!" he shouted, though the man was no longer there. "He spilled my coffee."

Ziva chuckled as she turned to look at Tony's desk then to face Gibbs, "Will you hold that against him even though he now gave us an estimate as to how long she has been in that building and when she might have been in the freezer?"

"Nope, but he's going to get me a new cup when he gets back here." Gibbs laughed then and he went back to work.

Abby had stepped out of her lab as Tony entered, her music still blasting, and he noticed a picture of Petty Officer Julian Bryan on her screen. It was a before and after picture of her. Her before picture showed her high cheek bones, thin rounded lips, high arched eyebrows, and sculpted jaw firm with her nervous clenched teeth. This was the only picture of her that they could find that didn't have her in the background or in some hideous outfit.

He turned his head slightly to look at the after photo of Julian on the slab ready to be cut open and investigated by Ducky. Her cheeks were slightly sunken in, her eyebrows were in need to be plucked, her lips were round and full- her bottom lip was very attractive and kissable, Tony mused- he skin was a shade tan but it was olive in a small way. The photos, too many people, would have looked the same, but Tony knew women and he always made sure to see the details in them. Something about Julian's before and after just didn't sit right with him the more he looked.

The older Julian looked to be a D-cup, newer Julian around a B-cup. The pictures of Julian with her friends showed she was smaller than five-foot six-inches, but the one they found was five-foot eight-inches. Her hair, her eyes, her lips, her hour glass figure, her breast size, her gaze… none of it matched the picture.

"Tony!" Abby's shout caused Tony to swirl around and make him look at her with a goofy grin.

"Yes, Abs?"

"Don't look at her as if she's someone you're thinking of sleeping with." Abby gave him a displeasing frown, her hands on her hips, her torso leaned forward, and her eyes in a glare. "She's a victim, no matter how hot she is.

Tony chuckled, "I know Abs; the more I look the more flaws I see, the more flaws I see the more different our Petty Officer Julian Bryan and the Frozen Julian Bryan are." Abby gave him a confused looked before she turned to her computer and began messing around with it. She laid the picture on top of the other and a buss came from the speakers.

"Tony," Abby said with a haunted look in her eyes as she looked at Tony and the screen behind him. "Our Petty Officer isn't our Petty Officer; I don't even think she is a marine at all."

Gibbs frowned at the report that Abby had ordered Tony to give him while she searched for any clues on their recent clue. It was his gut feeling that something was when he stepped into that building and how he reacted while processing the scene, but now… now his whole team just stepped into his worst nightmare.

"MeGee, Ziva, I'll heave over to Bethesda and tell Ducky what we just learned, you find anything out of who our 'framed' Petty Officer is." He heard the chirp of understanding from them both as he stood up and began walking to the elevator when he spotted Director Vance waiting near it, his hand keeping it open.

"'Bout time, Gibbs." Vance said stepping in after Gibbs. "What have you found?" Gibbs quickly explained the situation and he watched Vance go silent before he turned to the wall to think. "Gibbs, if Petty Officer Julian Bryan was trying to fake her death, she nearly succeeded." Gibbs didn't say anything. "I'll explain to SECNAV what just happened, but you need to find out who she is and why they chose her, got it, Agent Gibbs."

"You don't need to tell me that, Director, I all ready have my team on it."

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Okay I am fixing this part, so this story is now a chapter story


	2. What would you do?

This is the second addition, but I only have five minutes to upload it, I wont be on anymore due to the fact that I no longer have a computer or any means to one tell I can buy another one. Please forgive me, when I get back I will redo this story, but you will have to wait. Thanks again.

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"_A hero doesn't need a name to be a hero, they don't need fame or fortune or recognition to be a good person and face life for two or more people. In comics a hero is someone like Clark Kent, Superman, who does all these things. I don't see him as a hero but a vigilantly. He gains recognition, he does the interviews, and he stays behind and takes questions and is always smiling. He does what he does for the praise and to get 'her' attention. I don't like him because he 'saves' people, I don't enjoy how he monologues to the people about protecting them, I don't like him because he's strong, can win against any and everything. He's not a total stranger who would save me or you when we needed real help. Yeah, he saves lives, but will he actually save my life or the stranger next to me, or the pregnant woman, the child, the old man who smiled and whispers sweet nothings into the woman he has loved for nearly fifty-five years. _

_The answer is no, Clark Kent, a.k.a Superman, can't save anyone but those in his own city with the big globe on that one building just to impress one woman and make her fall madly in love with him just so he can get her into his bed and screw her over, if only for one night. He's no savior, no gift from god. He's an alien who only has one thing in mind: 'Her'._

_Who can save us? Who here is willing to stand up and say 'I'm (age) and I have (number of family members) and I have (amount of friends or popularity) and I don't care. I wish to be killed or tortured if I can save (this amount of people) or hope that you will spare (this type of person or people) so that they can live.' Who here will do that?_

_The old couple; they are still acting as if they have many years ahead of them, family they don't wish to leave behind in a brutal act, love that still can stand against time as they age year by year for who know how long. The pregnant woman; her baby due to be born any moment now as she clutches her stomach and prays to god to spare her unborn child and her own life, or just the unborn child. The child; he could be starting fourth grade by now, be in class, playing in the playground with friends he made that day, eating some outrageous fatty food all the while having fun like any child. It could even be the stranger next to me; his smile on his face as he looks around the room with content and knowing smile, a warm and gentle look etched in his eyes. Nothing appearing to tie him down, but looks deceived all people. Or it could be me, I could stand up, bang on the thick rusted metal door and shout with all my strength for our captors to hear and ask with clear strength that I desired to talk to their leader._

_Any one of use could be able and willing to do that one simple thing that either: One, kill us while he laughed and raged, or Two, agree and let me watch them leave. Nothing is sure in our world; nothing is sure when it comes to this. You need to know that, we all need to know that."_

The drive had taken only a short twenty minutes for Gibbs, his shortest every, as he parked the car and stepped out, drinking the last of his coffee before walking briskly to the automatic doors of the local hospital. As he neared the station he caught sight of Ducky talking to a nurse, his shoulders stiff, his back straight, and his tone sharp. Ducky was furious a sight that hardly happened with the coroner and it was never a good sign.

"Ducky?" Gibbs asked; Ducky didn't respond.

As he neared closer he heard their conversation, "I don't care if she is in that room or another, but I need to check on her in order to do my job! "

"I'm sorry Doctor Mallard, we were told not to let anyone in, her immune system is shot and any attempt at a sterile room has been enough to panic her. We just can't let you in, sir." Ducky puffed his chest out and he pulled all his height and his experience into his next words that made Gibbs exceedingly proud to have him as NCIS's coroner.

"My dear, I've been at this a lot longer then you have, I have taken care of countless people-both Dead and Alive- I have seen more deadly viruses and had to deal with them on more than a normal daily basis and I KNOW, young lady, How to make sure my hands and anything else is going to be sterile for our patient. Now if you think there is another Doctor who has been at this job longer then I have and know all the procedures like me, please, tell me where he is!" The lady looked wide eyed but she slowly lowered her head and went to the nurses' station calling a doctor supervising their victim.

"Good job, Ducky." Gibbs walked next to the other and looked where he was looking. "How long have you been away from her."

"Long enough, Jethro." He said weary. "When they ran some test not even half the nurses' have been allowed to see her, they are trying to hold down the number of contact she has so she doesn't get sick. They fear she might develop pneumonia due to how cold her body core was when they brought her in." he walked over to a few empty seats and sat down rubbing his face. "Jethro, she might not make it through the night." Gibbs felt his lips cruel back slightly as he leaned in his chair.

"I know, Ducky."

Ducky had left, finally making the younger doctors relents to his will, and Gibbs sat alone thinking about their case from when they received the call.

"_Agent Gibbs?" came the voice of a cop. "We found a dead sailor; we need your team here in half an hour." The time limit was the first thing that made Gibbs' gut twist with unease. _

"_What's the addres?" He wrote it down quickly, with a curt nod after he repeated it be stood up, told his team to grab their gear, and he headed to the elevator with only his gut telling him this case was going to be screwed up._

_The drive was expected. The building was four stories, their victim on the top Far East room. The scene was typical, the body wasn't. Their 'Petty Officer' was stiffly dressed, eyes closed, and very blue. Her hair, long, slight wave to it at the ends, reached the middle of her back as it pooled around her head in a halo. A decorated Pistol clasped in her arms as they crossed her chest. As Gibbs' neared the boy all he saw was the eyes of their victim staring at the ceiling with such fury and strength that he knew instantly she was a good, no excellent, marine. _

"_MeGee ,photos. Tony, sketches. Ziva, check the perimeter." Everyone quickly began their work as Ducky and Palmar shuffled their way into the room with the stretcher. Gibbs nodded to him as went to the body and began their task. "Do something about her eyes, Ducky."_

"_Yes, of course, Jethro, but… why leave her eyes open?" Gibbs didn't know the answer but he hoped they would find one soon enough._

_Gibbs walked around the room, but he always trailed back to the body and looked at her. Her hair, he noticed surprised, looked as if it was recently washed, shone with the minimal light on her. Her skin, though blue and looked bloated, wasn't even scared from where he stood. He moved to look down at her face a little more and he dropped down and he pointed to the corners of her mouth where they looked slightly bruised._

"_Ducky?" he looked up at the other man and waiting for his response._

"_That is typical of post mortem, Jethro, but I am more concerned as to why Petty Officer Julian is so cold. I have no way of telling you when she died, not until we take her back." Gibbs nodded as he got ready to stand up he looked at her face and he noticed a strain of her hair was lighter, blond, and some others were red, brown, and even a dark rich purple. _

"_You can take her, Ducky." He stood up and grabbed the sketch book out of Tony's hands and wrote a note on the back of the drawing. 'Petty Officer: Dyed hair'? He flipped the page over and he handed it back before he went to talk to the officer on the scene. It was after that that his attitude took a dip and he called his team off. The scene was out of their jurisdiction and their director had lost his chip to the FBI._

_Bonus: They kept the evidence they had and the body. The negative: any further evidence they should have wouldn't be theirs to see or use._

As Gibbs dwelled on those feeling something slowly stirred to wake with a chuckle and a salute; though Fornell has the crime scene they had the victim, still alive for the time being.

"Bad move, Fornell." He said with a wide grin.

Ducky looked down at the young woman, her fast recovery astounded him and worried him, as he walked over to her and sat down near the head of her bed.

"My dear girl, you look thin, haven't they given you anything?" she looked at him and a small smile, her ability to show emotions grew over the time her face unthawed, as she nodded her head. "Oh dear, you must have been starved, that is never a good sign, not in your condition." She didn't do much other than smile, Ducky felt slightly disappointed at that. He had known that she might have brain damage along with organ damage due to her frozen body but… to see her stare at him with such fathom. She might only recognize him nothing more than that. "I brought you some clothes so when we can check you out you won't be in scrubs, I know they aren't comfortable to be in all day, but these are." She laid out the light-blue dress shirt and black dress pants, rolled up a little, and a belt. "Don't worry; we'll buy you some new clothes when you do get out, hm, Julian." She stopped smiling then and cocked her head, her mouth tight and her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Oh, is something wrong?"

She continued to stare at Ducky this way before opening her mouth, "Ahhh." Was all she could say and she quickly shut her lips, a slight clank of her teeth hitting hard enough for Ducky to hear, and she looked down confused. "Ahhh." Again she tried to speak.

"Don't worry dear girl, when you get better you'll speak again."

She shook her head, "Ahh." She said croaking with stress. "Ahh." Her hand went out and she began writing in the air.

"Oh! You want something to write with!" he pulled out a pen and dove into a draw, finding some paper. "Here, why don't you try writing it." She nodded with a returned grin, the pen set on the paper and her words were slow, painfully written, but Ducky noticed that she was desperately making them legible for him. Her brain wasn't as far gone as her doctor had thought, a great sign in her recovery.

Slowly she wrote a line before she paused and her voice was a slight pant, a worry of exhaustion. "You don't need to write anymore, my dear, you've done plenty." She laughed emotionally before she looked down at her hand and then her face stoned before bringing the pen back to the paper and she began writing.

Ducky watched with worry, but awe. Though she was obviously tired from the exertion she failed to give up. She was a sturdy and reliable marine.

"Ahh?" she looked down at her hand as it froze in place, her confusion matched that of Ducky's as he watched her try to move the arm. Her other hand gripped the wrist and she lifted it off the paper and let it drop on the side of her leg, just watching it go dead.

"Oh dear!" Ducky exclaimed jumping and rushing to the door banging on it waiting for someone to show up. "Come on, now!"

While Ducky tried to get the attention of the staff, for he couldn't break the seal on the door for fear that the 'clean' environment might be lost, the victim had the pen, originally in her right hand, gripped rightly in her left between her pointer and middle so her thumb, point, and middle held the point tightly so it would not squiggle on the page. She slowly began to write more, her words jagged, but she made sure they were legible to anyone who read them. Her tongue slipped from her mouth and nearly touched her nose, her teeth digging into the muscle as she fought to keep the growing exhaustion and black veil from claiming her. She finally had a way of telling them what she could.

As she slowly pressed the pen into the paper forming the end of the sentence did she drop the pen as two Doctors rushed into the room and Ducky stood at the end of the bed. She smiled as she looked up lifting the paper in her shaking hands and showed it to him, the thin sheet wielded to gravity as her hand let go and her head and arm dropped back onto the bed indicating she had lost all consciousness.

"What happened in here Doctor Mallard?" one of the Doctors nearly shouted with rage. "Her BP, Heart, even her brain are elevated to dangerous levels!"

"She asked to write something down, Doctor Siena, I allowed her that." He picked up the paper and pen and he looked at the writing before he noticed its dramatic change near the end. "Where you that desperate to tell us, my dear?" Ducky turned, nodded to the two doctors and left the room. He had evidence to give to Jethro.

Gibbs watched the stiff, slightly swayed, and tired posture of his friend walking towards him. "What happened?" Gibbs' asked roughly hoping she was okay.

"She exerted herself, they're making sure it is nothing else then that, Jethro…" the doctor paused as he sat down and looked at the writing. "You need to read this; it explains a lot on our current case." Gibbs looked down at the letter before at Ducky. "Yes, Jethro, this is her writing."

"Thanks, Ducky, stay here and make sure she'll be fine later, I don't want anything happening to her." Gibbs stood up before he remembered why he came here. "Ducky, she isn't our Petty Officer."

"That would explain a few things." Ducky waved his hand and closed his eyes. "Get a long, Jethro, you still have a case to figure out."

Leroy Jethro Gibbs sat in his car outside his work reading the paper with a stern, appalled, and furious expression mixed together. She had written her name down: Ashlyn Lynn DeGroul. She was born April 5, 1991. That made her eighteen years old and senior in her High School. Her mother was in jail, Kaitlyn DeGroul, and her father was dead for nearly fifteen years. She had lived alone, no extended family, and had an annual income of one-hundred dollars a month to pay for both food and her rent. She had been abducted on March 19, 2007 on her way to her after school graveyard shift as a Navy base, the only place that actually accepted her. She had at first been alone in her fit for one person, she described it as a Navy boat's bed-that was the size, she said- and Gibbs growled out with fury.

She described how after a month of no contact they placed more and more people into her cell: an old couple, a pregnant woman, a child no older than seven, a man who constantly helped keep the peace, and her. She wrote that they looked frightened, obviously barely pulled off the street and over the time that slowly passed; they all were well fed, including her.

"Why did they do this to you then?"

Her word were jagged then as she said that one day the pregnant woman began to have contractions, the old man nearly had a heart attack, and the kid was slowly becoming violent. The stranger, though he was kind at the beginning, began stealing the food from the others. They were changing and no longer could survive if they lived in the room together. She had come to the conclusion.

Gibbs looked at his team as she worked away on their computers looking for some clue as to who she was, he knew by their expressions they had nothing.

"Her name's Ashlyn Lynn DeGroul, her mother is Kaitlyn DeGroul. MeGee check the prison, see if the mother is still there, Ziva find what you can on the father, Tony find out about her." He turned and left to give the note to Abby.

"Boss," Tony said a slight jog to his side. "We're all wondering, is she okay?"

"She's fine, DiNozzo, but you won't be if you don't get back to work!" Gibbs barked before Tony nodded and turned to get back to his task; Gibbs smiled.

As Gibbs came into Abby's lab he noticed the lack of music, "Abby."

"Gibbs!"

"Got you some evidence." Abby looked at the paper.

"Gibbs, you're touching it with your hand!" she chide before throwing on some gloves. "Where did you get this?"

"Victim. Her name is-"

Abby interrupted him, "Ashlyn Lynn DeGroul, nice." Gibbs chuckled.

"When you find anything-"

"Found something boss man." Gibbs paused; he looked at the screen confused.

"What could you have found already?!"

"Shesh, boss man, take a chill pill." She pointed to the screen. "Ashlyn DeGroul, cops found blood and ash, they marked her dead. All evidence pointed to that." Gibbs frowned. "Also…. Whoa, that's kinky." She pulled up a picture and showed it to Gibbs on the big screen. "Her father is a dead Marine who is also Julian's father.

"Say what?" Gibbs turned to look at Abs before back at the screen. "It explains why she looks like our Petty Officer." He turned to Abby for more information.

"Boss, record show they were real close. Julian tried to Adopt Ashlyn, she was denied with no reason for why." Abby eyes grew round as she stared at her screen. "Boss… That judge… he made it so Ashlyn and Julian couldn't see each other anymore on the claims of Julian being a pedophile!"

Gibbs sharply turned and walked to the screen, Abby moving to the side for him, and read the lines. There was no evidence to support it, but he also forced Petty Officer to join in order to keep the two apart. "Abby check where Ashlyn lived." He moved out of the way for her and looked at the screen as images popped up of a rundown apartment, the note on the side said more than Gibbs could take.

"Boss, that is absurd, that is more than a house!" she tried to figure out how much she would have to take out of her checks to pay for one week. She still wouldn't have enough.

"She was paid one-hundred a month by judges orders, she could not get a job by court order, she could not get below an A- unless she wanted to lose all income." Gibbs listed off what the document said before he turned back to Abby. "Send this to MeGee." And he left her room and headed back to the bull-pen.

As he entered the bull-pen he noticed Tony, Ziva, and MeGee reading what he had.

"That's ridiculous! Who can live on that much?" Tony said looking at MeGee. "Tell me that isn't Legal!"

"It isn't, DiNozzo." Tony looked sharply at Gibbs and back at the screen.

"Boss?"

"DiNozzo, what did you find out." Tony went back to his seat and looked down at his screen reading. "Ashlyn went to a local High School in town; she got top marks on her test, all of them, Boss." He scrolled down. "She also had a fund raiser prior to her abduction. They got more than five-thousand dollars raised for her, LEO's have been trying to remove 'that' from her; nothing worked, Boss… Boss, could the Judge be in on it?"

"That is what we're going to find out, DiNozzo."

"Gibbs, their father was Jack Bryan, he was killed by his squad… Gibbs, their all in jail waiting for their death sentence." Gibbs turned to look at Ziva and he nodded before at Megee.

"Boss, Kaitlyn DeGroul was killed nearly a week after Ashlyn vanished. The guards said that she was getting out that very day Ashlyn was taken. Boss, after Ashlyn vanished Miss DeGroul claimed that she would be killed because she was the last one who 'knew' of what was happening. The judge, the same judge who separated Ashlyn and Julian, sentenced anything and everything she had to be destroyed immediately. I also found that she was a former Navy officer, she left after telling her commanding officer that he better take his family and leave or tell the cops everything. He made it into a report, the thing is he put at the end 'I'll be dead before anyone reads this and figures out what I'm talking about, my family doesn't even know who I really am.'"

"And no one noticed that?!"

"No, Boss."

"Ziva, are those men still in jail and alive."

"Yes, I have already called them, the cops seemed relieved to hear from us, they said that they can prolong any death as long as it's from the Judge, but anything then that-"

"Gear up, we're leaving now." Gibbs turned to spot Vance holding the phone and he knew then that he wanted an update, nodding he looked at DiNozzo. "DiNozzo, call the Director and fill him in, Ziva, head over to Ashlyn, I want her safe and unharmed."

"Boss, if her mother, father, and the squad were convicted or killed, you don't think Julian had the same experience?" Gibbs' didn't answer MeGee's question, they all knew the answer to it.


	3. Of course I would

My dearest regrets, pleas forgive my computer destroying hands. Hope to be back in business soon cause I got a couple of things on my Flash drive I want to put up.

* * *

"_A person who does help another will usually be attacked, the person might assume something like a robbing or feel their pride is being attacked. They resort to violence. I'm not saying that I was assaulted like that, I'm still young enough that my act of kindness is taken as that. I know though that if I were to be kind to some people, say that stranger who became petty and self-centered believing he deserved to live above all of the others, makes me believe that he will plainly say 'They chose (insert sex) to die and that meant that I was more favored.' I'm not sure, but I believe that is what he will say when he is saved. The mother might feel sad, the boy will be confused, and the elderly couple will feel remorse. Each of them have a different point of view on what will happen after I die, that is to say if I do get up and sacrifice my life for them-I know it is me who will in the end. _

_My father, who loved his country, found a secret within our local Government about the Judge and his supplying Terrorist with anything they wanted, that included sex, money, drugs, even names of cops and undercover Agents that involved NCIS, local FBI, cops, anything and everything. My father went to my mother and told her he wanted a divorce, she was devastated until a man showed up at our door and held my mother at gun point after the papers went through and my sister no longer lived with us. She was the oldest of the family and she learned father's secret after he came home destroying my mother life, but she forgave him for it after she was at gun point. He told her to yell for our dad, she told him he didn't live here. He asked if my dad told her anything, she said he only wanted a divorce. The man laughed in her face and said, 'Even that won't save the ones he loves!' My mother is a smart woman and she was madly in love with my father, she knew in her heart that he would never do this to her without reason, and the man gave her the reason not to cry the lost. _

_That man died due to the fury of a woman who is in love and her desire to protect all that she had: My father, my sister, and I. The judge sentenced her to jail. My father had no ability to take me in, my sister no longer able to see me. I was all alone and that is when I learned from one of my father's friends that horrible secret that ripped my family apart. I learned later that my mother had one last day at a normal life, which she found out that a man was being blackmailed and forced to be raped if he didn't wish his family safe. He complied but my mother told me that even with that, when I saw her only once, he didn't break and would never relent. I am glad to tell you that the family was alive after he died, never knowing, blind, and I believe that is the way it should be._

_My father died shortly after on a training mission, my sister told my best friend, and that those who had taken care of me and my sister all this time were now in jail on murder charges. _

_To you who read this don't think badly of them. They tried to find proof; they tried to save my last remaining family. They saved my life until then. My sister then resorted to our corrupt legal system to try and gain custody of me; she failed, but not before she told me she was next to die._

_Then, before that even happened, I was taken hostage and forced to wear my sister's uniform. _

_Human nature is corrupted by desires. My only desire is my family, but I lost them. The mother's desire is to protect her unborn child due at any moment. The boy's desire is to live for his future and family. The old couple desires the other, such sweet love that my parents had that I feel the need to protect. The stranger desires to live, to survive, and he cares about nothing else._

_You see, it is at our final moments that we come to light to what truly matters to us. The stranger was kind when he came here now look at him. The boy, once strong, now knows the world isn't the place he believes it to be. Monsters really do live in the dark. The couple knows that they might not live as long as they hope, but still are true to each other. The mother knows her child is in danger if he or she is born now and fights each day to keep that precious gift inside, safe, until she knows he'll be safe._

_I know for a fact, when this started, I would do the right thing for I never had self-preservation. I only desired to protect others from my own problem that killed my family and destroyed those close to us who helped._

_Now it is my turn, dear reader, to do what they did and save anyone I can from facing death. I just hope that I do save them and not prolong theirs."_

As they entered the building a guard rushed forward and he smiled, "Thank god, I've been waiting for this day, sir!" Gibbs frowned and nodded, his gut had that feeling again. "We've kept then in an area with heavy guard and we're not the only ones here trying to keep them alive."

"The prisoner?"

"They've been helping, sir, some of these men are former JAGs, sir, more than half the men in here know that these men risked their necks for us in Iraq, sir, none of them think this sentence if fair." He turned and opened a door; they had walked quickly while the man spoke. "Sir, please tell me you've got evidence that can stop that bastard?"

"We've got an eye witness." The man stopped and he turned to look at Gibbs with tears in his eyes. "You found… you really found Julian?"

"We found her sister, Ashlyn." The man looked stumped before he clearly beamed. Gibbs realized quickly that the squad didn't tell anyone of Ashlyn. 'Protect their own kind' was one hell of a code with anyone who served.

"I didn't think she had a sister, but…" he wiped his tears. "Sir, take good care of her, please." He opened the door just as Gibbs shouted for everyone to drop. The guard had turned to Gibbs, mouthing 'Sorry' and that had been the last.

Agent Gibbs, minor burns, cuts, bruises, and fractures, sat down with the four men. Each wore a sad smile as they looked at him.

"You knew him well." Gibbs watched them nod. "Why would he do that then?"

"Agent Gibbs," the middle, a rough man baring a scare down his face nearly blinding him, spoke. "My name is Dorian Andrews and that man had fought that Judge for nearly a year since he was signed to watch us. He went over the line more than once with that bastard and do you know how hard it was for him!" Gibbs nodded for him to continue. "Sir, he left his family for their safety, he kept his mouth shut, and he sure as hell didn't give up on find a way to free us!" the others nodded, Gibbs knew then that the man had done saved their life also.

"I'll write that in my report." The men smiled and thanked him. "Now, I need everything on that scum bag Judge." Their grins turned wicked as they filled him in on everything.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a man no one could kill when he was on revenge; the Judge and his group made a big mistake when they left Ashlyn in that building.

Ashlyn woke up and she looked into the eyes of a man she knew far too well. He stared at her with disgust, but he gently pushed her hair behind her ear, "I'm surprised you lived." Ashlyn didn't feel anything as she stared up at him, her body stiff and yet she felt relaxed. "You should know that those people were freed, except the boy, one of my friends took him in." her eyes widened and she hissed furiously at him struggling under the drugs that held her brain and relaxed her muscles. "Nothing has happened, he's just running around naked at the time being, you should be glad." Relief flooded her eyes and she still stared up at him.

"Tell me, Ashlyn, do you really think I'd let you live?"

"Ahh." She struggled to open her mouth but still all that came was that.

"You can't even speak!" he laughed. "Here," he lifted something off the table and held it for her to see. "It is a simple flu bug mixed with that kids DNA, I believe you two have different blood types, you being A and him being AB+?" he gave a low chuckled as he inserted the needle in her arm. "There, nothing is the problem now, all is well, and I'll see you at your funeral."

" 'aaatt…" she said with a small smile. " 'aaatttt…" the Judge looked at her with confusion.

"What?"

" 'aaatt." She began laughing loudly. " 'aaattt!' her voice rose to a horrible scream that wracked her body as she grinned tears in her eyes. " 'aaatt!" she screamed with renewed breath.

"You disgusting filth, who did you tell!"

"NCIS you are under arrest for the murder of Petty Officer Julian Bryan." The judge looked down at the still screaming girl and the tears of joy running down her face before slowly no sound came from her but her mouth still was wide as she continued to scream the hissing air from her lunges.

A doctor ran in, looking at the Judge and the gun in the NCIS Agents hand before he ignored them both for his patient in distress. As Doctor Siena ran a quick check on her BP and heart he quickly turned back to them, "She's going to crash! Finish him now and get me help!"

Ziva David had arrived as the building was being evacuated due to a fire. She instantly rushed to the front doors and looked at a Doctor who shouted at her that she couldn't enter until it was cleared.

"I have no time!" she hissed pushing herself past him. "She will be dead long before then if I do not go now!" the Doctor watched her leave before he rushed in after her; if someone was in trouble of dying in the hospital he had to save them, even if he was going to burn.

"What room is she in?" he shouted behind her.

"Her name is Ashlyn DeGroul, under NCIS protection." Ziva noticed that the man perked up and he tripled his speed pushing past her, stunning her.

As they neared the room they heard the screaming first and both of them rushed forward until Ziva grabbed the doctor's arm, "Stay until I call you, they might have a gun."

"I don't care, that is my patient in there; Miss David, she needs my help." Ziva nodded, but he still allowed her to go first.

"NCIS you are under arrest for the murder of Petty Officer Julian Bryan!" she shouted as the judge looked at her. He looked scared before he quickly changed his façade to worry.

"I was trying to help her since no one came to get her!" he defended; they didn't have proof of anything. "I am a local judge in town, I wouldn't kill-"

As loud screams erupted from Ashlyn's mouth, "Liar!" she spoke the first clear word. "Liar, Liar, Liar!" Ziva watched the judge turn to her and the doctor, lunging forward his hands raised and his intent clear. She shot only once before the room was silent and the judge lay on the floor blood pooling around his head. Ziva looked at him before at the doctor who looked furious at him as both Ashlyn and himself were covered in blood and brain matter.

"You idiot!" he shouted standing up and pulled the blankets off of her as Ashlyn eyes rolled to the back of her head and saliva dripped down her mouth, over her chin, and fell to her grown as he body shook the bed frame with violent force. "Get me help!" he straddled her forcing her body to be as still as he could get it, her head straight so no spine damage could happen. "HURRY!" Ziva flew out of the room with the devil at her heels and she noticed a few doctors outside as she opened the door screaming for help.

She watched as the nurses', the doctors, even patients and guest rushed back into the hospital to help the patient dying while Doctor Siena desperately tried to save her.

Gibbs stared at the report of his desk as he read it over before he signed it and closed it. The case had been solved in a week. Though as he read what Zia, Tony, and MeGee wrote along with the testimony of Ashlyn and her father's squad they had put a stop to the Judge's group. The families were proud and glad to have their family back.

"Hey, Boss." Tony's voice pulled Gibbs' face upward to see his senior Agent standing in front of him. "Vance wants us gone, you know, Ashlyn."

"I remember, DiNozzo." He said standing up slowly putting on his jacket and taking out his gun. "MeGee, did you get the flowers?"

"Got them, Boss." Gibbs smiled before looking at Ziva as the woman took deep breaths to gain the courage to go with them.

"David, we don't have long before it's over." He watched her as she nodded and stood up. "That's my girl." And he walked to the elevator with his team on his heels.

* * *

"_People believe that men have no good in them, but I don't believe that. Men chose what they do; some do the wicked things while some can be saints. I meet people, who saved my life, even know I believe that I'm saved while I watch them sitting on the square stone. These people did the one thing no cop, Marine, Navy personnel could do. They saved countless life's while they were risking their own. People chose what they do, I know that, so I do believe that anyone can change._

_I once met a pregnant woman who had her child in an ambulance, it was a boy. She thanked god and she told the boy as he grew older that self sacrifice was the reason he was alive. 'Yes, the young lady did everything to save you, always remember that. When you grow older you'll find what you're meant to do, but for now, cherish this life she saved.'_

_I once meet a boy who grew up, his courage and desires to protect others like he was, to save others like a woman along with NCIS did for him. His quickly received the ability to help save as many people as he could, to this day he fights._

_I once knew a man, he was generous at first but he soon became ruthless and a despicable man. He was killed one day by a mugger who watched him pathetically plea for his life, the last thought he had was 'I'm going to die, bitch, and it's your entire fault.'_

_There was this old couple in love, they died shortly after being free, but they did one thing that to this day has helped thousands: they donated their life's savings into helping victims like them and those in the room. Their last gift to the world and though they died, they were loved by their family and each other._

_In the end, people change, people saved others, and they did the one thing I never could do: they denied their Self-Preservation and put their life's in harm. These people are real heroes."_

_**I wish to thank our troups for all that they have done for us and those training to defend our county still. **_


End file.
